One of my great surprises last year was finally catching Mother Mother live. I'd been hearing about the Canadian five-piece, but it took a friend dragging me to a late-night showcase at last year's CMJ festival to finally make it happen. While the industry-pumping fest tends to earn the cynicism it gets, Mother Mother's tightly wound set put me in my place. Onstage, the male-female-female vocals of brother and sister Ryan and Molly Gulemond, bolstered on this tour by new keyboardist/vocalist Jasmin Parkin, turn bittersweet harmonic knots in the band's dance-rock core. Rhythms pile on, layered and always driving, then stop on a dime. The dizzying amount of precision that goes into a Mother Mother live show makes one thing clear - the band, still under the radar in the States, won't stay that way for long.

Mother Mother

w/Sam Roberts Band

Saturday, March 7

Water Street Music Hall, 204 N. Water Street

7 p.m. | $14-$16 | 325-5600